Over time and particularly with exposure to external influences such as light or harmful atmospheric substances, hair loses or changes its natural color and its shine or luster. For this reason, hair coloring agents are widely used either at hair salons or at home. So-called oxidation coloring agents are used for permanent, intensive colors with suitable fastness properties. Such coloring agents typically contain oxidation dye precursors, so-called developer components and coupler components, which under the influence of oxidizing agents or atmospheric oxygen form the actual dyes with one another. The oxidation coloring agents are characterized by excellent, long-lasting coloring results. Coloring or tinting agents, containing so-called substantive dyes (“direct dyes”) as the coloring component, are typically used for temporary colors. Apart from dyeing, the lightening of the natural hair color or dyeing the hair a blond color is the very specific wish of many consumers, because a blond hair color is regarded as attractive and fashionably desirable. If substrates are to be lightened or even bleached, the dyes coloring the substrate are mostly decolorized with the use of appropriate oxidizing agents, such as hydrogen peroxide.
In hair dyeing, particularly in hair dyeing at home, the problem arises that natural color nuances are completely covered, so that multi-tonal colors are difficult to realize.
To give the hair a more natural appearance, it is proposed to partially decolorize dyed hair by the selective use of oxidizing agents. Hair sections (“small strands”) to which the oxidizing agents are applied thereby bleach out at least partially, resulting in a multi-tonal hair color. The oxidizing agent is applied thereby with a brush or applicator, whereby hair not to be treated is protected from decolorizing optionally by aluminum foil or a so-called “highlighting cap.”
This type of application does in fact solve the problem of the most possible natural dyeing of hair, but allows only the placing of “highlights.” The hair must be dyed again to achieve “lowlights,” i.e., darker sections. In each of the cases, a time-consuming second decolorizing or dyeing step is necessary, which follows the original dyeing. In particular in use at home, therefore, the entire hair must first be colored before the consumer can place “highlights” or “lowlights.” Many consumers regard this as time-consuming and also frustrating, because the essential color-changing step occurs at the beginning and is “corrected” in a second step.
It is therefore desirable to provide a method that enables multi-tonal dyeing in a single coloring step. In this regard, the dyeing of the hair with the production of “highlights” or “lowlights” should proceed so that a result is visible immediately after the coloring agent is rinsed out.
Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.